In years past, the Patriots had success in taking on other teams' headaches, scoring big with the likes of running back Corey Dillon and receiver Randy Moss, earning coach Bill Belichick a reputation as a miracle worker within the talented-but-troubled set.

But more recently, folks in these parts watched in puzzlement as the Patriots took gambles last season on defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth and receiver Chad Ochocinco. Not so miraculous, those choices, as Haynesworth was cut in early November 2011 and Ochocinco caught 15 passes all season.

Now along comes Talib, who was serving a four-game suspension for failing a banned-substance test at the time of the trade, and whose litany of run-ins — with the law, with his own teammates and, yes, even once with a game official outside the Tampa Bay locker room — could fill a small notebook.

This had the potential to go down as another Patriots overreach. But, turns out there is a big difference between Talib and guys like Haynesworth and Ochocinco: Talib still can play.

As they prepare to line up in the AFC championship game against Baltimore on Sunday, there may be no player more instrumental in bolstering the Patriots' chances to return to the Super Bowl — and win it this time — than Talib. And he is happy to be along for the ride.

"Oh man, this is what you play football for," Talib said. "You don't play football to play 16 and go home. You play to get in the tournament and try to get the trophy. We're just going one week at a time, and Baltimore is on the agenda next."

First, a word about what Talib did last Sunday, in New England's 41-28 win over the Houston Texans at Gillette Stadium that set up the Ravens showdown. He lined up, one-on-one, against Andre Johnson, one of the league's top receivers, for nearly the entire game. Johnson wound up with eight catches for 95 yards, but considering the Texans threw 51 times as they tried to erase a big deficit, Talib actually held Johnson largely in check. Johnson's biggest gainer — a 22-yard catch in the middle of the third quarter—occurred when Talib was not defending him.

"The biggest thing when you play a guy like (Johnson) is to try a bunch of different things," safety and defensive captain Devin McCourty said. "I think you can't take away what Aqib did, going out there and just challenging him every play and being able to play one of the top receivers in the league. We did different things at different times, but most of it was just Aqib playing good defense."

That's been a critical change for the Patriots in the second half of the season, as they have bounced back from a ho-hum 5-3 start in which it looked like years of shuffling through shoddy combinations in the secondary would continue.

McCourty was struggling at cornerback, after having established that he was more comfortable at safety. Corner Kyle Arrington, too, was struggling. Injuries and inexperience at safety were killing the Patriots, with deep balls over the middle providing easy pickings for even so-so quarterbacks (almost one-fifth of Ryan Fitzpatrick's 16-game total passing yards came in two games against New England, after all).

But then the Patriots finally got Talib onto the field in Week 11. He gave them something the team had not had in years — a big (6-1, 205), rangy, athletic lockdown corner who can defend an Andre Johnson-type for a full 60 minutes. With rookie Alfonzo Dennard inserted (and playing well) at the opposite corner, the Patriots' entire secondary has gotten a facelift. McCourty has returned to safety, where he can oversee the entire backside of the defense. Arrington and Steve Gregory are in their comfort zones, playing against slot receivers in nickel packages.

With more confidence in the defensive backs, the linebackers and ends have had more freedom to be aggressive.

"Obviously it's great to get another veteran player on the back end, someone that has some excellent experience in the NFL and can really fit in the younger group and kind of really just blend into the guys that we have and fit the pieces," defensive coordinator Matt Patricia said. "(Talib) has done a real good job, really coming in and adapting to our system, learning the defense as we run it and the different coverages that we play and overall just been an excellent teammate really, kind of a guy that the other guys fit in with and get along with and obviously then compete and play hard with."

Indeed, Talib has brought an increased sense of attitude to a unit that lacked an identity for so long — yep, that was Talib jawing with Johnson after just about every play in which the two were entangled.

That will be important for the Patriots, who are going to need a solid overall performance from the secondary this week. While Johnson is the primary weapon for the Texans, the Ravens have Anquan Boldin, Torrey Smith and Jacoby Jones putting up good numbers for quarterback Joe Flacco. When the Patriots played the Ravens in Week 3, it was Smith who torched them for 127 yards and two touchdowns. In the Ravens' wild-card playoff win over the Colts, Boldin posted 145 yards. Talib will draw one of the two on Sunday.

Which makes him happy. "If you're a cornerback and you don't want to go after their best receiver, you're in the wrong business," he said.

So has Belichick done it again? Has he taken another bad egg and rebuilt him? Talib wouldn't quite put it that way. He's still adjusting to New England, still adjusting to his new team. Coming to work has been a lot more rewarding lately, that's all.